Pirates pillage Ironmen

WHEELERSBURG — The Wheelersburg Pirates defeated the Jackson Ironmen Saturday night by a score of 40-34. The game showcased the senior leadership of Wheelersburg’s Kyle Davis who led all scorers with 19 points.

Wheelersburg pressed early and got out to a quick advantage, 9-2. Jackson’s perimeter shot was inconsistent through the night. The Ironmen scored just 12 points in the first half, while the pirates Kyle Davis led the team with 13 going into the break. At the half the score was 27-12, with Wheelersburg in the driver’s seat.

Pirate’s Tanner Holden struggled with foul trouble. He sat out much of the third quarter which caused the Wheelersburg offense to stall as the Ironmen dug in defensively. Jackson would go on a 9-0 run until Wheelersburg finally managed to find the bottom of the net with a minute left in the third quarter. The Ironmen managed to get themselves back in the game, with a 31-23 score heading into the fourth quarter.

Jackson managed to knock the lead down to just five points with 40 seconds left in regulation. Jackson would rebound a missed foul shot, head down court and Ironman Cooper Donaldson would hoist a shot to cut the lead to two; but it missed. Dakota Nichols grabbed the offensive board and kicked it out to Peyton Speakman who had hit two big treys earlier in the quarter. This time, though, he missed cementing the Pirate’s Victory. After some free throw shooting the Pirates would emerge victorious by a score of 40-34.

“It was ugly. But it was a win, so we’ll take it,” said Wheelersburg Head Coach Steven Ater. “We jumped out early and played alright in the first half but we couldn’t seem to get ourselves going in the second half.”

“Our defense is something we have really been working on. We’ve given up too many points at times this year. Tonight, we were able to frustrate them into attempting quick shots and we wouldn’t allow them to get set and attempt the open looks they are accustomed to. If they can get set, they can really knock them down. I think we did a good job on the glass tonight, Kaden Coleman did a really good job rebounding for us and Kyle Davis led us in scoring. He got off to a great start in the first half and led our team tonight. Keaton Newsome had some good effort and scoring for us and did a lot of good things defensively. We had some good contributions off the bench tonight, too.”

Wheelersburg, despite playing very well at times, is behind Minford and Valley in the SOC II standings. Coach Ater knows that in order to catch those two teams they will have to win every game they can.

“We are a couple games back right now. We have to go get every win we possibly can if we want a change to hang around. For us, it’s about daily progress and getting better each day. We have Oak Hill coming in here next and we have to go get ready for them.”